Methods and systems for rendering virtual three-dimensional field of play for AR-enhanced gameplay experience

ABSTRACT

Embodiments provide computer-implemented methods and systems for rendering virtual three-dimensional fields of play onto an augmented reality enabled gaming device. Methods include receiving, by a processing system, a three-dimensional perimeter along a physical gameplay surface from an augmented reality enabled gaming device, determining a Euclidean space based on the three-dimensional perimeter, calculating a total volume of the Euclidean space based on the origin and the outer extension of the field of play along the three dimensions defined by the player, generating a virtual three-dimensional grid by dividing the total volume of the Euclidean space into a number of cuboids, facilitating, by the processing system, rendering of the virtual three-dimensional grid, receiving a selection of a plurality of virtual three dimensional objects from the augmented reality enabled gaming device, and fusing the plurality of virtual three-dimensional objects using a pre-defined set of rules to obtain a holistic field of play.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to physical tabletoprole-playing and miniature games. Embodiments relate more particularlyto a computer-implemented method and system to render a virtualthree-dimensional field of play, and to provide augmented reality (AR)enhanced and remote gameplay experience for physical role-playing andminiature tabletop games.

BACKGROUND

Tabletop games are games that are played on a table or other flatsurface in accordance with certain pre-defined rules of play. A tabletoprole-playing game (“TRPG”) will usually have two or more players sittingaround a table to tell a narrative story while role-playing their customcharacters and rolling dice to see if the actions of their charactersare successful or not in accordance with the rules of such TRPG beingplayed. TRPGs also commonly use “pen and paper” to track the status oftheir custom characters and their abilities. Another type of tabletopgames is the tabletop miniature game (“TMG”). TMGs allow the players tobuild and advance miniatures such as tanks, ships, etc. through animaginative terrain or a purposely constructed terrain placed on thetabletop to do battle with one or more players in accordance with therules of the TMG being played.

The “field of play” is an imaginative location or terrain on a tabletopwhere the gaming adventure or campaign takes place. In case of TRPGs orTMGs, the field of play is, for example, a place like a castle which theplayers explore, or a terrain where the battle takes place. The field ofplay exists only in the imaginative mind of the players, in the form ofhand-drawn maps or diagrams of the place or terrain, and/or non-portablephysical set pieces of the place or terrain. Building such field of playwould take a very long time, and much effort and expense to build. Oneof the challenges to gameplay experience with this traditional approachis that it hinders the flexibility of the games to be played amongmultiple, geographically dispersed players and displayed to spectatorsas, for example, in a live stream setting.

Beyond the difficulty in live streaming games, additional challenges togameplay experience with this traditional approach are that it: (i)distracts from the gameplay experience by not offering the players andspectators, beyond the empty tabletop or poorly drawn map or diagrams ofthe field of play, any sense of “realism” of the place being explored orthe battle fought, and (ii) increases the cost in terms of time andeffort, and nuisance of purchasing, building and handling physical setpieces if such field of play were to include purposely built set piecesplaced upon the tabletop. If physical set pieces were employed toenhance the realism of the gameplay experience, it will be moredifficult to (i) transport the set pieces to different gaming venue, and(ii) replicate if the game were to be played at multiple venuessimultaneously like in a live stream setting. Moreover, for TRPGs,sometimes, there is a need for multi-story or tall miniature structureand the current state of gameplay requires either the players imaginingthe tall structure being in the field of play, or shabbily constructedminiature structure that could break during gameplay or transport.

Existing methods include physical tabletop and manual building of thegame setup. These are confined to be played at a single place on thesame tabletop as the field of play will be created on a common tabletopwith all the players sitting around the table. Currently, there are nomethods to play the tabletop games with 3D models in a local,distributed, or live stream setup that can be viewed through one or moregaming devices.

In light of the above discussion, there exists a need for technologicalsolutions that enhance the level of realism to local, distributed, orlive streamed TRPGs and TMGs played under existing gameplay rules toenhance players' and spectators' experience or enjoyment

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems andcomputer-implemented methods for rendering a virtual three-dimensionalfield of play on a physical tabletop for AR-enhanced gameplayexperience. The computer-implemented method includes receiving, by aprocessing system, a three-dimensional perimeter along a physicalgameplay surface, from an augmented reality enabled gaming device. Thethree-dimensional perimeter may include an origin and an outer extensionof a field of play along three dimensions defined by a player. Thecomputer-implemented method includes determining, by the processingsystem, a Euclidean space, based at least, on the three-dimensionalperimeter. The computer-implemented method further includes,calculating, by the processing system, a total volume of the Euclideanspace, based at least, on the origin and the outer extension of thefield of play along the three dimensions defined by the player. Thecomputer-implemented method includes, generating, by the processingsystem, a virtual three-dimensional grid, by dividing the total volumeof the Euclidean space into a number of cuboids. Further, thecomputer-implemented method includes facilitating, by the processingsystem, rendering of the virtual three-dimensional grid. The virtualthree-dimensional grid may be configured to be displayed on the physicalgameplay surface as viewed through the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice. The computer-implemented method includes, receiving, by theprocessing system, a selection of a plurality of virtual threedimensional objects, from the augmented reality enabled gaming device.The computer-implemented method further includes, fusing, by theprocessing system, the plurality of virtual three-dimensional objectsusing a pre-defined set of rules to obtain a holistic field of play.

In another embodiment, a processing system is disclosed. The systemincludes a memory including executable instructions and a processorcommunicably coupled to a communication interface, the processor isconfigured to execute the executable instructions to cause theprocessing system to at least receive a three-dimensional perimeteralong a physical gameplay surface, from an augmented reality enabledgaming device. The three-dimensional perimeter may include an origin andan outer extension of a field of play along three dimensions defined bya player. The processing system is caused to determine a Euclideanspace, based at least, on the three-dimensional perimeter. Theprocessing system is further caused to calculate a total volume of theEuclidean space, based at least, on the origin and the outer extensionof the field of play along the three dimensions defined by the player.The processing system is caused to divide the total volume of theEuclidean space into a number of cuboids. The processing system isfurther caused to generate a virtual three-dimensional grid, based atleast, on the number of cuboids. The processing system is caused tofacilitate, rendering of the virtual three-dimensional grid. The virtualthree-dimensional grid may be configured to be displayed on the physicalgameplay surface as viewed through the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice. The processing system is further caused to receive a selectionof a plurality of virtual three dimensional objects, from the augmentedreality enabled gaming device. The processing system is caused to fusethe plurality of virtual three-dimensional objects using a pre-definedset of rules to obtain a holistic field of play.

In yet another embodiment, an augmented reality enabled gaming device isdisclosed. The augmented reality enabled gaming device may include aplurality of sensors, a memory including executable instructions and aprocessor communicably coupled to a communication interface, theprocessor configured to execute the executable instructions to cause theaugmented reality enabled gaming device to at least download theclient-side application, via the server system. The augmented realityenabled gaming device is caused to provide a user interface to theplayer to select the origin and the outer extension of the field of playalong the three dimensions. The augmented reality enabled gaming deviceis further caused to display the plurality of virtual three-dimensionalobjects stored in the object library, to the player via another userinterface. The augmented reality enabled gaming device is caused toprovide a user interface to the player to drag and drop a plurality ofvirtual three-dimensional objects to be populated in the virtualthree-dimensional grid, via another user interface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the presentinvention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example representation of an environment, relatedto at least some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a server system and an augmented realityenabled gaming device, in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a sequence flow diagram for generating a virtualthree-dimensional grid and rendering a holistic field of play to thevirtual three-dimensional grid;

FIG. 4A is a diagram depicting the unpopulated virtual three-dimensionalgrid composing of a number of cuboids, as viewed through the augmentedreality enabled gaming device, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing the end to end illustration of the processof creating a field of play, in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how objects in an object library (OL) areselected and oriented to populate selected cuboids in a virtualthree-dimensional grid to create the field of play, in accordance withsome embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a table stored in the OL including a plurality of attributesassociated with the virtual three-dimensional objects, in accordancewith an example embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a table stored in a game repository including structural dataassociated with episodes of games, in accordance with an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for rendering a virtualthree-dimensional field of play for AR-enhanced gameplay, in accordancewith an example embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram outlining the steps in generating a virtualthree-dimensional grid and populating the grid with virtualthree-dimensional objects to create a holistic field of play, inaccordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram outlining the steps in playing a tabletoprole-playing game (TRPG) or tabletop miniature game (TMG), in accordancewith an example embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram explaining how the field of play database (FPDB)can be utilized to render the field of play, in accordance with anexample embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an alternate way a tabletop game isdisplayed or live streamed in character-view or macro-view display modesin a role-playing game in an alternate embodiment; and

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a network-based system linking playersplaying the game and potential audience viewing a live streamed gameusing various means in a preferred and alternate embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however,to one skilled in the art that the present disclosure can be practicedwithout these specific details.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the present disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in anembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, variousfeatures are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments andnot by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which maybe requirements for some embodiments but not for other embodiments.

The term “field of play” used throughout the description refers to agraphical space that a player will view through the augmented realityenabled gaming devices such as an AR headset or a goggle. The player maybe inside the field of play and may move around and perform operationsallowed by the respective game.

Moreover, although the following description contains many specifics forthe purposes of illustration, anyone skilled in the art will appreciatethat many variations and/or alterations to said details are within thescope of the present disclosure. Similarly, although many of thefeatures of the present disclosure are described in terms of each other,or in conjunction with each other, one skilled in the art willappreciate that many of these features can be provided independently ofother features. Accordingly, this description of the present disclosureis set forth without any loss of generality to, and without imposinglimitations upon, the present disclosure.

The above-mentioned needs are met by a computer-implemented method andsystem to allow players to experience augmented reality while playingtraditional TRPG and TMG. The following detailed description is intendedto provide example implementations to one of ordinary skill in the artand is not intended to limit the invention to the explicit disclosure,as one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that variations canbe substituted that are within the scope of the invention as described.

Overview

Various example embodiments of the present disclosure provide method andsystem for generating and rendering, by a server system, a virtualthree-dimensional field of play including fused virtualthree-dimensional objects for tabletop role-playing games, including butnot limited to, Dungeons & Dragons™, Starfinder™, etc., and tabletopminiature games, including but not limited to Warhammer™, Warmachine™,etc. The virtual three-dimensional objects may include, but not limitedto, buildings and building components, structures like fence, trenches,earthworks, etc., infrastructural components like roads, bridges, etc.,vegetation like trees, and natural and geographical features like hills,rivers, etc. These objects are assembled and displayed on a field ofplay (together, the “three-dimensional objects”). All objects includedin the set of three-dimensional objects and avatar of characters arevirtual three-dimensional objects (that is, not real-life) generatedusing computer graphics techniques. When viewed by local or remoteplayers through an augmented reality enabled gaming device, the field ofplay of the tabletop game, populated with the virtual three-dimensionalobjects, is virtually displayed on the gaming device as if the field ofplay is projected onto a physical tabletop.

The gaming device is an augmented or mixed reality viewing deviceequipped with a plurality of sensors such as hand movement tracker, headmovement tracker, etc. The viewing device may be one of, but not limitedto, a mobile device like a cell phone, a smart television, a personalcomputer, a tablet computer, a large screen video display, a consumerwearable like smart glasses, or a special purpose AR headset or agoggle. Where appropriate, and in accordance with gaming rules, anavatar of characters selected by players to be used in tabletop gamesare superimposed onto the field of play as viewed through the gamingdevice. The tabletop game will be played in this virtual field of playfollowing the same gaming rules as if playing a legacy tabletop game.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for enablingthe players, wearing or viewing through an augmented reality enabledgaming device, to mark the three-dimensional perimeter (length, width,and height along the x, y, and z-axis) of the physical tabletop thatforms the field of play. A Euclidean space is determined based on theperimeter marked by the player. The Euclidean space is divided equallyinto a pre-defined number of three-dimensional rectangular cells(“Cuboid”) of equal volume to form a virtual three-dimensional grid (the“3D Grid”) as viewed through the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice. The server system is configured to calculate the total volume ofthe Euclidean space and divide the total volume into a pre-definednumber of cuboids. Therefore, the server system generates a stack ofcuboids placed in the virtual field of play as viewed through theaugmented reality enabled gaming device. In an embodiment, the virtualthree-dimensional grid is divided such that the number of cuboids willhave equal volumes.

In another example embodiment, the method also provides for the creationand use of an object library (the “OL”) that stores a collection ofaforementioned virtual three-dimensional objects and characters. The OLis stored in a database in the server system which could be anon-premise server or a remote server located in the cloud storage. Thevirtual three-dimensional objects from the OL could be selected,modified and placed within each cuboid of the virtual three-dimensionalgrid. Each cuboid may contain zero or one virtual three-dimensionalobject, to compose the place and/or terrain forming the virtual field ofplay that can be used to play an episode of tabletop game. Using themovement of the players' hands as detected by the augmented realityenabled gaming device's hand movement tracker, the virtualthree-dimensional grid including the virtual field of play, could berotated along each of the three dimensions. In another embodiment,blocks of cuboids may be split apart so individual virtualthree-dimensional objects can be dragged from a list shown in a userinterface display (“UI”) of the augmented reality enabled gaming deviceonto any cuboids in the virtual three-dimensional grid as desired.

After the completion of populating the desired cuboids with desiredvirtual three-dimensional objects, the server system is configured tographically fuse the virtual three-dimensional objects using apre-defined set of rules. After fusing the desired virtualthree-dimensional objects selected by the player, the server systemstores the corresponding field of play in a database against a uniqueidentifier. The player may search and retrieve the field of play fromthe server system using the unique identifier. The placement of all thevirtual three-dimensional objects in each cuboid is recorded in a fieldof play database (the “FPDB”) and stored in the server system.

A holistic field of play is obtained by graphically fusing the desiredvirtual three-dimensional objects. The holistic field of play is thenrendered graphically by the server system and available to be displayedon the physical gameplay surface, as viewed through an augmented realityenabled gaming device. The holistic field of play is fused such that theindividual virtual three-dimensional objects placed in selected cuboidsare scaled and linked to the virtual three-dimensional objects placed inadjacent cuboids. The fusing process is performed to visually form aunified structure or terrain, as viewed through the augmented realityenabled gaming device. The resultant rendered holistic field of play isassigned a unique identifier and stored as a file in the game repository(the “GR”) in a server system. The server system could be an on-premiseserver or a server located in the cloud. A three-dimensional orholographic image of the composed field of play and/or the selectedcharacters can be viewed through the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice by one or more local and/or remote players for an episode of thetabletop gameplay.

In another embodiment consisting of all players congregating in onegeographical location, an episode of the tabletop gameplay is initiatedby having players logging into the server system with access to a GR.The players will select the desired field of play to be used in thepresent episode using a unique identifier. The file including the fieldof play is sent via the internet or data network to a centralizedcomputer (e.g., the server system) or each player's gaming device. Thecentralized computer will determine the portion of the pre-renderedfield of play and/or other computer-generated elements including UI thatshould logically be displayed to the player, by the gaming device. Theappropriate image is then displayed in each player's gaming devicevirtually superimposed onto the physical tabletop. If appropriate, asdictated by the rules of the game, a character is selected by eachplayer for the episode of the tabletop game and displayed by the gamingdevice in accordance with the above described method. The episode canthen proceed in accordance with the rules of the game with communicationamong the players on the proceeding of the game. The proceeding of anepisode is saved in the GR so that, in case of an incomplete episode,the game can be finished at a later time in accordance with the rules ofthe game.

Depending on the requirement of the tabletop game being played, themethod enables the display of real-world elements (e.g., the physicaltable, dice roll or miniature figures) and computer-generated virtualelements (e.g., the field of play or selected characters) in a varietyof display modes as viewed through the gaming device. For TMG, theplayer will see the physical miniature figures on the physical tabletopwithin the field of view superimposed on the portion of the field ofplay. For TRPG, the player can use the UI to choose between two viewingmodes: (a) the view of the field of play from their character'sperspective, or (b) a macro or a birds-eye view of the field of playaround their character with certain limitations.

In another alternate embodiment, a plurality of players playing the sameepisode of the game may be dispersed geographically. The file consistingof the desired field of play is sent via the internet or data network toa centralized computer (e.g., the server system) or each of theplurality of player's gaming device at the dispersed location. Thecentralized computer will determine the portion of the field of playthat should be rendered and/or other computer-generated elementsincluding UI that should logically be displayed by each of the gamingdevices. Communication among the plurality of players on the proceedingof the game is achieved via voice through the server system or via aseparate voice-over-IP network. As in the previous embodiment, theproceeding of an episode is saved in the GR so that, in case of anincomplete episode, the game can be finished at a later time inaccordance with the rules of the game.

Each of the geographically dispersed plurality of players will be ableto observe the proceeding of the game as if they are congregated aroundthe same physical table. For TMG, each remote player will be able to seeall the physical miniature figures placed on the remote physical tablethrough the camera attached to the gaming device of a player physicallypresent at the physical tabletop. The character-view or macro-viewdisplay options available to players congregating in one location toplay TRPG are also available to the plurality of players under thisalternate multi-location embodiment.

In yet another alternate embodiment, the virtual three-dimensionalobjects stored in the OL and the field of play stored in the GR arelicensed to the players. The licensing may be based on the terms of acertain licensing agreement, by a third-party developer or gamepublisher (the “Licensor”) for use by the licensee players. Based on theterms of the licensing agreement, the licensed virtual three-dimensionalobjects and/or places and terrains are licensed to the licensee forcertain defined limited use or unlimited use. Furthermore, the licensingterms may or may not allow the licensee to alter, author, and/or add tothe virtual three-dimensional objects and/or places and terrains asprovided by the third-party developer or game publisher. Such licensingterms should also define the ownership of the altered, authored, oradditional virtual three-dimensional objects and/or places and terrainsdeposited into the OL and GR. The ownership of the recorded proceedingof gameplay episodes stored in OL and GR may also be defined in thelicensing terms.

In this embodiment, the digital assets in an OL or complete field ofplay in a GR could also be created by any licensee players. The licenseeplayers may create the digital assets, using approaches described hereinor other approaches, to be licensed to other players in the communitybased on licensor's licensing terms.

In an additional alternate embodiment, software tools can be supplied bya third-party developer to enable the authoring and altering of virtualthree-dimensional objects, characters and complete field of play. Thevirtual three-dimensional objects, characters and complete field of playmay be authored or altered from sketch, alteration of existingthree-dimensional objects, characters and complete field of play, andimportation of external art.

In still another alternate embodiment, an episode of the tabletop gameplayed on a field of play is broadcasted live or replayed to a livestream channel for viewing by on-site or remote spectators with gamingdevices. The episode of the tabletop game played on a field of play mayalso be re-rendered for viewing in 2D on video screens or online videosharing and streaming platforms. For this embodiment, viewers can view aTMG through the perspective of a streaming player physically present atthe physical tabletop. For TRPG, the audience can view the game from (i)the perspective of each viewer's chosen player in one of character ormacro viewing mode as described above, (ii) the perspective of a chosencharacter among all characters, or (iii) the macro view of one chosencharacter.

In another example embodiment, tabletop gaming-related entertainment,tutorial and/or digital advertising content may be displayed to theplayers. The digital advertisement content may be displayed based on theidentity, preference, demographics, or other characteristics of theplayers, on the gaming device before or after an episode of a game. Inan alternate embodiment, the digital advertising content may bedisplayed at a time of players' choosing. For example, an introductoryvideo of a new line of miniature figures or a new collection of TRPGcharacters can be shown only to players of TMG or TRPG respectivelyafter they log in to the game via server system. Advertising revenuegenerated from displaying commercial content could also be used tooffset the cost players incur subscribing to virtual three-dimensionalobjects, characters, a field of play, and/or other costs.

In an embodiment, a server system is configured to push digital contentfrom the server system or another advertisement or content distributionserver to the augmented reality enabled gaming device. The digitalcontent may include, tabletop gaming-related entertainment, tutorialand/or advertising content. The server system may facilitate analyzingplayer related data stored in the repositories. Analyzing player relateddata may include performing a simple analysis on what games the playerplays, what character the player chooses and the like. The server systemmay further determine the digital content to be displayed on theaugmented reality enabled gaming device based on the analysis. Thedigital content may be sent based on a player's gaming interest andpreference as determined based on an analysis of the player related datastored in the repositories of the server system. The repositories mayinclude account & bookkeeping information repository and GR. In anembodiment, the digital content can be sent before or after an episodeof a game or at an alternate time of the player's choosing. In anexample, the digital content, in this case, an advertisement forminiature figures is displayed after the client-side application isdownloaded and run on the augmented reality enabled gaming device, butbefore the commencement of the game. For this example, as the playerlogs in to the server system, the server system can determine what kindof digital content should be displayed and when, in order to enhance thegaming experience and/or optimize business objectives.

Various example embodiments of the present disclosure are describedhereinafter with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example representation of an environment 100related to at least some example embodiments of the present disclosure.The environment 100 is depicted to include an augmented reality enabledgaming device 104 associated with a player 102. The environment 100further includes a server system 106 which may be a server systemassociated with the game being played on the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104, by the player 102. The environment 100 also includesa tabletop 108 which is shown in front of the player 102. The augmentedreality enabled gaming device 104 and the server system 106 maycommunicably be coupled via a network 110.

The network 110 may include, without limitation, a local area network(LAN), a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., the Internet, etc.), a mobilenetwork, a virtual network, and/or another suitable public and/orprivate network capable of supporting communication among a plurality ofthe parts, entities, or players illustrated in FIG. 1, or anycombination thereof. For example, the network 110 may be a combinationof different networks, such as a private network made accessible by theserver system 106 and the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104,separately, a public network (e.g., the Internet, etc.) through whichthe augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 and the server system106 may communicate.

In the environment 100, the player 102 initiates the augmented realityenabled gaming device 104 and logs in to the server system 106 byaccessing a webpage. The player 102 may then access and download aclient-side application provided by the server system 106 that theplayer 102 wants to play. The client-side application may be a tabletoprole-playing game (TRPG) or a tabletop miniature game (TMG). The player102 may be able to view the physical gameplay surface of the tabletop108 through the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. Theaugmented reality enabled gaming device may include a camera that willfacilitate the player 102 to broadcast the physical and augmentedgraphical content, as viewed through the gaming device.

In an embodiment, the player 102, wearing or viewing through anaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104, may be able to mark thethree-dimensional perimeter of the desired field of play on the physicaltabletop 108. The perimeter may include length, width, and height alongthe x, y, and z-axis that may cover a section of the tabletop 108 thatforms the field of play. A Euclidean space is determined based on theperimeter marked by the player 102. The Euclidean space is dividedequally into a number of three-dimensional rectangular cells or cuboids.In an embodiment, the number of cuboids may be of equal volumes. Thenumber of cuboids may form a virtual three-dimensional grid as viewedthrough the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. The serversystem 106 is configured to calculate the total volume of the Euclideanspace and divide the total volume into a pre-defined number of cuboidshaving equal volumes. Therefore, the server system 106 is configured togenerate a stack of cuboids having equal volumes placed in the virtualfield of play as viewed through the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104.

In another example embodiment, the server system 106 may enable thecreation and use of an object library (the “OL”) that stores acollection of virtual three-dimensional objects and characters. The OLmay be stored in a memory of the server system 106 which could be anon-premise server incorporated with the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104, or a remote server located in the cloud storage. The virtualthree-dimensional objects from the OL could be selected, modified andplaced within a cuboid of the virtual three-dimensional grid, with eachcuboid containing zero or one virtual three-dimensional object, tocompose the place and/or terrain forming the virtual field of play thatcan be used to play an episode of tabletop gameplay. Using the movementof the player 102's hand as detected by the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104's hand movement tracker, the virtual three-dimensionalgrid could be rotated along each of its x-, y- or z-axis. In anotherembodiment, a small block of cuboids can be separated out of the virtualthree-dimensional grid and could also be rotated using the handmovements detected by the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104.The desired virtual three-dimensional objects may then be placed insidethe small block of cuboids by the player 102. The virtualthree-dimensional objects can be dragged from a list shown in the userinterface display (“UI”) of the augmented reality enabled gaming device104, onto any cuboids in the virtual three-dimensional grid or the smallblock of cuboids separated out of the virtual three-dimensional grid. Inan alternate embodiment where the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104 does not include a hand movement tracker, a handheldcontroller paired to the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 maybe used to perform above mentioned operations.

After the completion of populating the desired cuboids with desiredvirtual three-dimensional objects, the server system 106 is configuredto graphically fuse the virtual three-dimensional objects using apre-defined set of rules. After fusing the desired virtualthree-dimensional objects selected by the player 102, the server system106 stores the corresponding field of play in a database against aunique identifier. The player 102 may search and retrieve the field ofplay from the server system 106 using the unique identifier. Theplacement of all the fused virtual three-dimensional objects in eachcuboid is recorded in a field of play database (the “FPDB”) and storedin the server system 106.

As a result of the fusing process, a holistic field of play is obtainedby graphically fusing the desired virtual three-dimensional objects. Theholistic field of play is then rendered by the server system 106 andmade available to be displayed on the physical gameplay surface, asviewed through the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. Theholistic field of play is generated such that the individual virtualthree-dimensional objects placed in selected cuboids are scaled andlinked to the virtual three-dimensional objects placed in adjacentcuboids. The fusing process is performed to visually form a unifiedstructure or terrain, as viewed through the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104. The resultant holistic field of play may be renderedto the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. The holistic fieldof play is then assigned a unique identifier and stored as a file in thegame repository in a server system 106. The server system 106 could bean on-premise server or a server located in the cloud. Athree-dimensional or holographic image of the composed field of playand/or the selected characters can be viewed through the augmentedreality enabled gaming device 104 by one or more local and/or remoteplayers for an episode of the tabletop gameplay.

In another embodiment consisting of all players congregating in onegeographical location, an episode of the tabletop gameplay is initiatedby having players logging into the server system 106 with access to theGR. The players will select the desired field of play to be used in thepresent episode from the GR using a unique identifier. The fileincluding the field of play is sent via the internet or data network toa centralized computer (e.g., the server system 106) or each player'sgaming device. The centralized computer will determine the portion ofthe pre-rendered field of play and/or other computer-generated elementsincluding UI that should logically be displayed on by the augmentedreality enabled gaming device 104. The appropriate image is thendisplayed in each player's gaming device virtually superimposed onto thephysical gameplay surface such as the physical tabletop 108. In case ofa TRPG, a character is selected by each player for the episode of thetabletop game and displayed by the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104 in accordance with the above described method. The episodecan then proceed in accordance with the rules of the game withcommunication among the players on the proceeding of the game. Theproceeding of an episode is saved in the GR so that, in case of anincomplete episode, the game can be finished at a later time inaccordance with the rules of the game.

Depending on the requirement of the tabletop game being played, themethod enables the display of real-world elements (e.g., the physicaltable, dice roll or miniature figures) and computer-generated virtualelements (e.g., a field of play or selected characters) in a variety ofdisplay modes as viewed through the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104. For TMG, the player will see the physical miniature figureson the physical tabletop 108 within the field of view superimposed onthe portion of the field of play. For TRPG, the player 102 can use theUI to choose between two viewing modes: (a) the view of the field ofplay from their character's perspective, or (b) a macro or a birds-eyeview of the field of play around their character with certainlimitations.

In another alternate embodiment, a plurality of players playing the sameepisode of the game may be dispersed geographically. The file mayconsist desired field of play is sent via the network 110 to acentralized computer (e.g., the server system 106) or each of theplurality of player's gaming device such as the augmented realityenabled gaming device 104 of the player 102 at the dispersed location.The centralized computer will determine the portion of the field of playthat should be rendered and/or other computer-generated elementsincluding UI that should logically be displayed by each of the gamingdevices. Communication among the plurality of players on the proceedingof the game is achieved via voice through the server system 106 or via aseparate voice-over-IP network. As in the previous embodiment, theproceeding of an episode is saved in the GR so that, in case of anincomplete episode, the game can be finished at a later time inaccordance with the rules of the game.

Each of the geographically dispersed plurality of players will be ableto observe the proceeding of the game as if they are congregated aroundthe same physical table. For TMG, each remote player such as the player102 will be able to see all the physical miniature figures placed on theremote physical table. This is facilitated through the camera attachedto the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 of the player 102physically present at the physical tabletop 108. The character-view ormacro-view display options available to players congregating in onelocation to play TRPG are also available to the plurality of playersunder this alternate multi-location embodiment.

In yet another alternate embodiment, the virtual three-dimensionalobjects stored in the OL and the field of play stored in the GR arelicensed to the players. The licensing may be done based on the terms ofa certain licensing agreement, by a third-party developer or gamepublisher (the “Licensor”) for use by the licensee players. Based on theterms of the licensing agreement, the licensed virtual three-dimensionalobjects and/or places and terrains are licensed to the licensee forcertain defined limited use or unlimited use. Furthermore, the licensingterms may or may not allow the licensee to alter, author, and/or add tothe virtual three-dimensional objects and/or places and terrains storedin the OL and GR respectively as provided by the third-party developeror game publisher. Such licensing terms should also define the ownershipof the altered, authored, or additional virtual three-dimensionalobjects and/or places and terrains deposited into the OL and GR. Theownership of the recorded proceeding of gameplay episodes stored in theOL or GR may also be defined in the licensing terms.

In this embodiment, the digital assets in an OL or complete field ofplay in a GR could also be created by any licensee players. The licenseeplayers may create the digital assets, using approaches described hereinor other approaches, to be licensed to other players in the communitybased on licensor's licensing terms.

In an additional alternate embodiment, software tools can be supplied tothe players, by a third-party developer to enable the authoring andaltering of virtual three-dimensional objects, characters and completefield of play. The virtual three-dimensional objects may be authored oraltered by sketching, by alteration of existing three-dimensionalobjects, and/or by importation of external art. Similarly, thecharacters, and complete fields of play may also be authored or alteredin the same manner by sketching, by altering the existing characters orfields of play, and/or by importation of external art.

In yet another alternate embodiment, an episode of the tabletop gameplayed on a field of play is broadcasted live or replayed to a livestream channel for viewing by on-site or remote spectators with gamingdevices. The episode of the tabletop game played on a field of play mayalso be re-rendered for viewing in 2D on video screens or online videosharing and streaming platforms. For this embodiment, an audience,including a plurality of viewers, can view a TMG through the perspectiveof a streaming player such as the player 102 physically present at thephysical gameplay surface such as the physical tabletop 108. For TRPG,the audience can view the game from (i) the perspective of each viewer'schosen player in one of character or macro viewing mode as describedabove, (ii) the perspective of a chosen character among all characters,or (iii) the macro view of one chosen character.

In another example embodiment, tabletop gaming-related entertainment,tutorial and/or digital advertising content may be displayed to theplayers. The digital advertisement content may be displayed based on theidentity, preference, demographics or other characteristics of theplayers such as the player 102 on the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104 before or after an episode of a game. For example, anintroductory video of a new line of miniature figures or a newcollection of TRPG characters can be shown only to players playing TMGor TRPG respectively, after they log in to the game via server system.Advertising revenue generated from displaying commercial content couldalso be used to offset the cost players incur subscribing to virtualthree-dimensional objects, characters, a field of play, and/or othercosts.

In an embodiment, a server system is configured to push digital contentfrom the server system 106 or another advertisement or contentdistribution server to the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104.The digital content may include, tabletop gaming-related entertainment,tutorial and/or advertising content that are sent based on a player'sgaming interest and preference as determined based on an analysis of thedata stored in the repositories of the server system 106 including, butnot limited to, data stored in the account & bookkeeping informationrepository and GR. In an embodiment, the digital content can be sentbefore or after an episode of a game or at an alternate time of theplayer's choosing. In an example, the digital content, in this case, anadvertisement for miniature figures is displayed after the client-sideapplication is downloaded and ran on the augmented reality enabledgaming device, but before the commencement of the game. In an alternateembodiment, the digital advertising content may be displayed at a timeof players' choosing. For example, as the player 102 logs in to theserver system 106, the server system 106 can determine what kind ofdigital content should be displayed and when, in order to enhance thegaming experience and/or optimize business objectives.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram 200 including theaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104 associated with the player102, a server system 106, and the network 110, in accordance with anexample embodiment. The server system 106 is shown including a processor202, a memory 204, and a communication interface 206. The processor 202further includes a virtual grid generation engine 208, a field of playgeneration engine 210, gaming application engine 212, and gameplaystreaming engine 214. Memory 204 includes a plurality of repositoriesand libraries necessary for performing the aforementioned methods. Thememory 204 may include a game repository (GR) 216, an object library(OL) 218, a user profiles database 220, and a field of play database(FPDB) 222. The augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 may alsoinclude components such as a processor 224, memory 226, communicationinterface 228, and sensors 230. The processor 224 of the augmentedreality enabled gaming device 104 may further include a client-sideapplication engine 232, game viewing engine 234, hand movement tracker236, and a head movement tracker 238. The sensors 230 may include aplurality of sensors such as a camera, a gyroscope, and the like thatenable the features provided by an augmented reality enabled device.

This setup of components and server systems may be utilized tofacilitate generating and rendering of a virtual three-dimensional fieldof play including fused virtual three-dimensional objects for tabletopgames, by the server system 106. The server system 106 may be a gamingserver located at a remote location or may be incorporated with theaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104 in some embodiments. Theaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104 may enable the player 102 tobuild virtual field of plays, and play episodes of games on the virtualfield of play rendered on a physical gameplay surface.

In an embodiment, the player 102 associated with the augmented realityenabled gaming device 104 may initiate the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104 by switching it on and may log in to the server system106. In an embodiment, if the player 102 is a new user and does not havean account at the server system 106, the player 102 may be facilitatedto sign up to the server system 106. The user profiles database 220 maystore the data related to all the players who have signed up to theserver system 106. Further, after logging in, the player 102 maydownload a client-side application such as a TRPG or a TMG to play anepisode of the application on the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104. In an embodiment, once the client-side application isdownloaded from the server system 106, the player 102 can directlyaccess the application and play the game. The client-side applicationengine 232 is configured to manage all the applications downloaded fromthe server system 106. Similarly, the gaming application engine 212 ofthe server system 106 is configured to provide the applications fordownload and features of it.

After the player 102 has downloaded the application, the player 102 maybe capable of building a virtual field of play on a physical gameplaysurface that the player 102 may be sitting in front of and wants to playan episode of the game on it. In an embodiment, the player 102 may beseated in front of a physical tabletop 108 wearing the augmented realityenabled gaming device 104 and log in to the server system 106 to build avirtual field of play to play an episode of a game on the virtual fieldof play. The player 102 may be facilitated to choose an origin and anouter extension of the desired field of play that he/she wants to playin. The origin and the outer extensions determine a perimeter of thefield of play. The player 102 may be facilitated to mark the origin anddraw the outer extensions along x, y, and z-axis using a UI provided tothe player. The hand movement tracker 236 is configured to detect thehand movements and gestures performed by the player 102.

In the example embodiment, after the player has marked the perimeter,the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 is configured to sendthe same to the server system 106. The virtual grid generation engine208 is configured to first determine a Euclidean space covered by theperimeter of the field of play and then calculate the volume of theEuclidean space. The virtual grid generation engine 208 is furtherconfigured to divide the volume of the Euclidean space into a number ofcuboids. In an example, the Euclidean space may be divided in such a waythat the number of cuboids has equal volumes. In an embodiment, theserver system 106 is configured to generate a virtual three-dimensionalgrid including the number of cuboids stacked upon and adjacent to eachother along all the three dimensions. The processor 202 may thenfacilitate the rendering of the virtual three-dimensional grid andmaking it available to be displayed on the physical gameplay surface, asviewed through the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. Theplayer 102 may be able to view the virtual three-dimensional grid on thephysical tabletop 108, as viewed through the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104.

In one example embodiment, after the player 102 can view the virtualthree-dimensional grid, the player 102 may build a field of play on thevirtual three-dimensional grid via the server system 106. In anembodiment, the player 102 may access the OL 218 to build the virtualfield of play. A user interface screen including the plurality ofvirtual three-dimensional objects may be displayed to the player 102.The player 102 may be facilitated to drag and drop virtualthree-dimensional objects on to cuboids present in the virtualthree-dimension grid. In an embodiment, the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104 may provide a user interface to the player 102 thatfacilitates the player to drag and drop one virtual three-dimensionobject displayed on the UI screen onto a cuboid from the plurality ofcuboids present in the virtual three-dimensional grid. The player 102may be provided with a plurality of features so as to easily place thedesired virtual three-dimensional object onto a desired cuboid in arequired orientation. The process of populating the virtualthree-dimensional grids to form a field of play is explained in detailin FIG. 5.

Further, after the player 102 has finished populating the desiredcuboids with desired virtual three-dimensional objects, a save andrender button may be present in the UI screen displayed to the player102 through the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. Forexample, if the player presses on the ‘save’ button, the informationrelated to the corresponding field of play such as the orientation ofvirtual three-dimensional objects and the cuboid numbers, etc., may bestored in the FPDB 222. Further, the player 102 needs to press on the‘render’ button on the UI screen. The ‘render’ button may facilitate theserver system 106 to receive the desired selections of the player 102and render a holistic field of play that could be displayed on theaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104.

In an example embodiment, the field of play generation engine 210 of theserver system 106 is configured to graphically fuse the plurality ofvirtual three-dimensional objects selected by the player. The field ofplay generation engine 208 may utilize a pre-defined set of rules torender a holistic field of play and display the holistic field of playon the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. The pre-defined setof rules defines how the populated virtual three-dimensional grid isrendered with the different types of virtual three-dimensional objectsthat could be placed in the plurality of cuboids. The placement of avirtual three-dimensional object may be identified as “top”, “bottom”,“front”, “back”, “left” and “right” based on the orientation of thevirtual three-dimensional object in a cuboid of the plurality ofcuboids. For example, if a stone wall is placed in a cuboid to the leftof another cuboid with a stone wall with the same orientation, then, thetwo stone wall units will be aligned and fused together. The fusedobjects may be displayed as a continuous stone wall with two units inlength when viewed through the augmented reality enabled gaming device104.

The pre-defined set of rules also defines the relative size of thevirtual three-dimensional object. Virtual three-dimensional objects arescaled in the rendering process based on the relative size of adjacentobjects and the total volume of the field of play so that the resultantfield of play would appear to be properly proportioned. The renderingrules can be defined manually by the creator of the object based on thevisual requirement of the objects placed in adjacent cuboids.

Further, the rendered field of play may be utilized by the player 102 toplay an episode of a tabletop game along with a plurality of players. Inan example, the plurality of players may be present at the same locationviewing the field of play on a common physical gameplay surface, or inanother embodiment, each of the players may be geographically dispersed.A lead player may be chosen from the plurality of players who may selecta field of play from a plurality of field of plays stored in the FPDB222. In an example of a TRPG, each of the plurality of players maychoose a character and play according to the rules of the game andfeatures of the character as defined by the developers.

In an embodiment, information related to an episode of gameplay that wasplayed in the past or ongoing gameplay may be stored in the GR 216. TheGR 216 includes a plurality of information fields explained in detail inFIG. 7. The players may complete an episode of the game and save it forfurther streaming or viewing or in some embodiments, the players maysuspend an episode of the game in progress and the server system 106 mayautomatically save the proceedings and identifiers related to thegameplay in the GR for future use in case the players want to continuethe same gameplay in the future. In another example, the game viewingengine 234 may be configured to facilitate the player 102 to record anongoing gameplay and view it later by accessing a file stored in the GR216.

In an example embodiment, an episode of the gameplay may belive-streamed on to an e-sport channel or any other gaming or viewingdevice such as a mobile phone, laptop, tablet, etc. The gameplaystreaming engine 214 is configured to facilitate the lead player such asthe player 102 to choose an option to live stream an ongoing episode ofgameplay that can be viewed by any gaming or viewing devices. In anadditional embodiment, the episode of the gameplay may be live-streamedonto a two-dimensional screen with an option to display a 360-degreefield of view of the field of play.

In another additional embodiment, the players such as the player 102 maybe facilitated to generate their own virtual three-dimensional objectssuch as terrains and structures. Developer options may be given to theplayers enabling them to draw a virtual three-dimensional object andupload it to the OL 218 and use it for building field of plays. Theplayers may be rewarded for doing the same, in some embodiments.

In an additional alternate embodiment, software tools can be supplied tothe player 102, by a third-party developer to enable the authoring andaltering of virtual three-dimensional objects, characters and completefield of play. The virtual three-dimensional objects may be authored oraltered by sketching, by alteration of existing three-dimensionalobjects, and/or by importation of external art. Similarly, thecharacters, and complete fields of play may also be authored or alteredin the same manner by sketching, by altering the existing characters orfields of play, and/or by importation of external art.

In another example embodiment, tabletop gaming-related entertainment,tutorial and/or digital advertising content may be displayed to theplayer 102. The digital advertisement content may be displayed based onthe identity, preference, demographics or other characteristics of theplayer 102 on the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 before orafter an episode of a game. For example, an introductory video of a newline of miniature figures or a new collection of TRPG characters can beshown only to players playing TMG or TRPG respectively after they log into the game via server system 106. Advertising revenue generated fromdisplaying commercial content could also be used to offset the costplayers incur subscribing to virtual three-dimensional objects,characters, a field of play, and/or other costs.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a sequence flow diagram 300 for rendering avirtual three-dimensional field of play as viewed through the augmentedreality enabled gaming device 104, is shown, in accordance with anexample embodiment. The sequence of operations of the sequence flowdiagram 300 may not be necessarily executed in the same order as theyare presented. Further, one or more operations may be grouped togetherand performed in the form of a single step, or one operation may haveseveral sub-steps that may be performed in parallel or in a sequentialmanner.

At 305, the player 102 may initiate the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104 by switching it on and logs in to the server system 106 byaccessing a webpage through the internet (e.g., network 110 of FIG. 1).In an embodiment, the player 102 may be a new user and he/she will beprovided an interface to sign up to the server system 106 and continue.At 310, after logging in, the player 102 may download the client-sideapplication such as a TRPG or a TGM. The player 102 may then run thegame to start and play the game on the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104.

At 315, the player 102 may mark the desired perimeter of the field ofplay that he/she wants to play an episode of the game in, on thephysical gameplay surface of the tabletop 108. Marking the desiredperimeter includes selecting a point of origin and drawing an outerextension of the desired field of play along the three dimensions x, y,and z-axis. The player 102 may mark this using his/her hand and the handmovement tracker of the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 maybe able to track the movements of the player 102's hand. The handmovements of the player 102 may be displayed as a cursor or a pointer asviewed through the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. Thecursor or the pointer may be moved inside the field of view of theaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104 accordingly, as seen by theplayer 102. Various gestures defined by the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104 may be used to perform various operations on theaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104 using the hand movementtracking device 106. In an example, the player may tap on a point on thephysical gameplay surface of the tabletop 108 to mark that point as theorigin and then draw outer extensions of the desired field of play alongall three dimensions (x, y and z-axis) marking the length, width, andheight of the field of play.

At 320, the perimeter marked by the player 102 may be sent to the serversystem 106 from the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. Theplayer 102 may be presented with a ‘send’ button on the user interfaceof the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104.

At 325, the processor 202 of the server system 106 is configured tocalculate the total volume of the field of play based on the perimeterreceived from the augmented reality enabled gaming device. The serversystem 106 may first determine a Euclidean space of the field of playbased on the length, width, and height of the field of play marked bythe player 102. Further, the total volume of the Euclidean space of thefield of play may be calculated by the server system 106 using a formulato calculate the volume of a cube or a cuboid.

At 330, the processor 202 of the server system 106 may further dividethe total volume of the field of play into a number of cuboids to obtaina virtual three-dimensional grid. In an embodiment, the number ofcuboids may be of equal volumes. A virtual three-dimensional grid may bea stack of the number of cuboids having equal volume forming a gridalong the x, y, and z-axis. Therefore, dividing the total volume of thefield of play into a number of cuboids will result in obtaining avirtual three-dimensional grid. At 335, the server system 106 isconfigured to facilitate the rendering of the virtual three-dimensionalgrid to the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. The virtualthree-dimensional grid may be viewed through the augmented realityenabled gaming device 104.

After the player 102 is able to view the virtual three-dimensional gridthrough the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104, the player mayaccess the OL 218 of FIG. 2, through the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104 to populate the virtual three-dimensional grid tocompose a field of play. The OL 218 includes a collection of a pluralityof virtual three-dimensional objects that the player 102 may use tobuild a holistic field of play in which the player 102 can play episodesof games along with other players.

At 340, the player 102 may select a plurality of virtualthree-dimensional objects from the OL 218. A user interface may bedisplayed to the player 102 that allows the player 102 to drag and dropthe plurality of virtual three-dimensional objects into each cuboid ofthe number of cuboids that may have equal volumes. The OL 218 mayinclude a plurality of structures, terrains, geographic features, etc.The player 102 may populate the virtual three-dimensional grid using thevirtual three-dimensional objects contained in the OL 218. In anembodiment, the player 102 may be able to separate out a single cuboidout of the virtual three-dimensional grid and rotate the grid or rotatethe virtual three-dimensional object to the desired orientation topopulate the respective cuboid.

At 345, after the player 102 has populated the desired cuboids with zeroor one virtual three-dimensional object, the player may save and sendthe field of play to the server system 106. The field of the play refersto the complete set of all the virtual three-dimensional objects intheir desired orientations to be populated in respective cuboids withinthe virtual three-dimensional grid.

At 350, the processer 202 of the server system 106 is configured to fusethe objects using a pre-defined set of rules. The processor 202 may beconfigured to graphically fuse all the virtual three-dimensional objectsselected by the player 102 using a pre-defined set of rules. Thepre-defined rules may include executable programs that may be stored inthe memory of the server system 106. The executable codes, whenexecuted, may enable the processor to graphically fuse all the virtualthree-dimensional objects using the desired scale and orientation. Theprocess of fusing the plurality of virtual three-dimensional objects mayobtain a holistic field of play on which the player 102 may play anepisode of a TRPG or a TMG. At 355, the processor may generate theholistic field of play based on the fusing performed at 350. Theholistic field of play is ready to be rendered on any gaming device suchas the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104.

At 360, the server system 106 is configured to render the holistic fieldof play and make it available to be displayed on the physical gameplaysurface, as viewed through the gaming device 104 of the player 102. Therendered holistic field of play is such that all the virtualthree-dimensional objects placed within the virtual three-dimensionalgrid will appear to fuse together logically to display a holistic fieldof play as viewed through the gaming device 104. The rendered graphicalfile is then given a unique identifier and stored in the field of playdatabase 222 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4A is a diagram 400 depicting an unpopulated virtualthree-dimensional grid 402 composed of a number of cuboids, as viewedthrough the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104, in a preferredembodiment. The player 102 wearing the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104 is shown to be seated in front of a physical gameplay surfacesuch as the physical tabletop 108. A marking 404 including the originand the outer extension of all the three axes i.e., x, y, and z-axis forthe desired virtual three-dimensional grid is exemplarily shown. Themarking 404 may not be visible to the player 102 through the augmentedreality enabled gaming device 104. The unpopulated virtualthree-dimensional grid 402 may be rendered by the server system 106 andavailable to be displayed on the physical gameplay surface, as viewedthrough the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. The virtualthree-dimensional grid 402 appears to be projected on top of thephysical tabletop 108 (or any physical flat surface), as viewed throughthe augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 where one or moreepisodes of TRPG or TMG may be played. In an embodiment, the player 102can select any logical point as the origin and the x, y, and z-axisalong which the virtual three-dimensional grid 402 will be placed andmay be viewed through the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104.

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing the end to end illustration 420 of theprocess of creating a holistic field of play 410, in a preferredenvironment. The player 102 wearing the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104 may populate the desired cuboids of the virtualthree-dimensional grid 402 with a plurality of virtual three-dimensionalobjects from the OL 218. The process of populating the virtualthree-dimensional grid 402 is exemplarily shown in the left side of theillustration 420. It is exemplarily shown that the player 102 has chosentwo virtual three-dimensional objects 406, 408, and has populated two ofthe number of cuboids. In an embodiment, the player 102 may populate thedesired cuboids with such desired virtual three-dimensional objects andsave the selections for the field of play and send the selection to theserver system 106 to generate a holistic field of play 410.

In an example embodiment, the player 102 may be displayed a UI fromwhich the player 102 may drag and drop the plurality of virtualthree-dimensional objects onto the cuboids of the virtualthree-dimensional grid 402. After the player 102 has finished populatingthe same, the player 102 may press a ‘save’ button to save the pluralityof desired virtual three-dimensional objects and their orientations andrespective location within cuboids in the virtual three-dimensional grid402. Not all cuboids within the three-dimensional grid will contain avirtual three-dimensional object. The orientations, location and thevirtual three-dimensions objects selected by the player 102 may bestored in the FPDB 222. After the player 102 has finished saving theorientations, location and the plurality of three-dimensional objects,the player 102 may press on a ‘render’ button to send a signal to theserver system to render a holistic field of play 410 including theselected virtual three-dimensional objects.

In the embodiment, the field of play generation engine 210 of the serversystem 106 may be configured to graphically fuse the plurality ofvirtual three-dimensional objects selected by the player 102 using apre-defined set of rules. Graphically fusing the virtualthree-dimensional objects results in a holistic field of play that lookslike a single logically fused structure through the augmented realityenabled gaming device 104. In the illustration 420, the holistic fieldof play 410 may be displayed on the physical tabletop 108 as viewedthrough the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 by the player102.

FIG. 5 is a representation 500 showing how objects in the OL areselected and oriented to populate selected cuboids in a virtualthree-dimensional grid such as the virtual three-dimensional grid 502.The virtual three-dimensional grid is shown in the representation 500including 4 cuboids, to create the holistic field of play. The virtualthree-dimensional objects contained in the OL are displayed in a UIscreen 504 of the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. Theplayer 102 can use the OL's search function to search for the desiredobject by entering a tag or keyword into the search box of the UI screen504. A keyword can be related to multiple objects and all potentialmatches from the search can be displayed in one or more selection boxessuch as a selection box 506. Besides using the search function, theselection result boxes could also be populated based on computer-basedmachine learning of the player's preference or past actions. Forexample, there is a high probability that the player 102 might place aguard tower after selecting and placing a number of castle wallsegments. Therefore, a selection of guard towers objects isautomatically shown in the selection boxes such as the selection box506, saving the players' effort in entering the search term via the UI.

Upon finding the desired virtual three-dimensional object, the player102 can use hand gesture as detected by the hand movement tracker 236 ofthe augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 (as shown in FIG. 2), tograb, drag and drop the selected virtual three-dimensional object ontothe desired cuboid. This is achieved by player 102 placing their handexemplarily shown as hand 508 in the representation 500, on the desiredobject in the selection box 506 as if grabbing a hold onto the virtualthree-dimensional object. The player 102 may then close their first anddrag or move the object to the desire cuboid, and let go by the openingof the first while the hand 508 is positioned over the desire cuboid asviewed through the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104.Depending on the design of the augmented reality enabled gaming device104 and/or UI software, different action or a physical externalcontroller might be required to perform the above function. For example,the player 102 may point to the desired object in the selection box, andpress down with the pointing finger by slightly advancing the fingertowards the image of the virtual three-dimensional object as viewedthrough the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 to select theobject. The player 102 may then move the finger to the desired cuboidwithout letting go of the object, then may let go on top of the desiredcuboid by “dropping” or releasing the object by slightly pulling backthe finger. A mind-computer interface device can also be used to performthe function of selecting and depositing selected objects into desiredcuboids of the virtual three-dimensional grid 502.

After the selected object is deposited onto the desired cuboid, theobject can be manipulated to achieve the desired orientation. In thisembodiment, the orientation of a virtual three-dimensional object withina cuboid is to which face of the cuboid is the face of the virtualthree-dimensional object aligned with. For example, the virtualthree-dimensional object may be a stone wall 510 oriented facing cuboid512's face number 2, marked as 514, shown in the net diagram 516 of thecuboid 512. The net diagram 516 of the cuboid 512 is the two-dimensionalshape that can be folded to form a three-dimensional cuboid. Theorientation of the virtual three-dimensional object can be set using avariety of UI techniques including, but not limited to, pointing orgrabbing onto the virtual three-dimensional object within the cuboid 512and virtually rotating it such that it faces the desired face of thecuboid 512. Another approach is to select the virtual three-dimensionalobject within the cuboid 512 and then point to the desired face on thenet diagram 516 shown in the representation 500.

In an additional embodiment, to facilitate the deposit of virtualthree-dimensional objects into the cuboids among a large block ofcuboids, a block of cuboids 518 can be separated from another block ofcuboids such as the virtual three-dimensional grid 502 by hand gesture.A column of the block of cuboids 518 directly adjacent to where thedesired separation is going to occur, is grabbed or pointed to andvirtually moved in an opposite direction away from the other virtualthree-dimensional grid 502. Cuboids located in the interior of thevirtual three-dimensional grid 502 are thus exposed for the virtualthree-dimensional objects to be deposited into the block of cuboids 518.The block of cuboids 518 could also be rotated by grabbing onto orpointing to the block of cuboids 518 and rotating the hand 508 as ifholding onto the block of cuboids 518 and rotating them. A virtualthree-dimensional object can then be conveniently deposited into theexposed cuboid using hand gestures or other UI interactions.

In an example embodiment, the placement of virtual three-dimensionalobjects onto the desired cuboids within the virtual three-dimensionalgrid can be automatically or manually saved in the FPDB 222. The player102 may be able to save the field of play manually by pressing on the“save” button 520. When the composition of a field of play is firstsaved, the players will be asked to enter field of play name 522 whichmay be uniquely identifiable for the field of play being composed. Theplayers can complete the composition of a particular field of play inone or more sessions with the progress of each session saved to the FPDB222 under the same field of play name. When the composition of the fieldof play is completed, the players can instruct the server system 106 torender the completed field of play, in accordance with the pre-definedset of rules described in the OL 218 by clicking the “render” button 524in the UI screen 504.

Referring now to FIG. 6, it represents a table 600 of structured datarelated to the virtual three-dimensional objects stored in the OL 218.The OL 218 is configured to store all the information related to theplurality of virtual three-dimensional objects that can be populatedonto the cuboids of a virtual three-dimensional grid. The virtualthree-dimensional objects that can be selected to populate the virtualthree-dimensional grid are stored in the OL which is a data repositorystored in the memory 204 of the server system 106.

In an example embodiment, the table 600 may include a plurality ofinformation fields such as for example, an object identifier (see, 602),an image (see, 604), a type (see, 606), a rendering rules (see, 608),tags (see, 610), an attribute (see 612), and other information (see,614). The object identifier 602 may be a unique identifier that is givento the virtual three-dimensional object by the developers of the game.The image 604 represents the graphical representation of the virtualthree-dimensional object. Further, the type 606 represents aclassification of the virtual three-dimensional object. The type can beone of a structure (e.g., walls, rampart, towers, stairs, etc.), terrain(e.g., river, hills, plain, mountains, etc.), geographic feature (e.g.,forest, dam, trench, bush, etc.), and character (e.g., warrior, fairy,gargoyle, princess, etc.). The rendering rules 608 represent apre-defined set of rules to be used by any processor of a system tographically fuse the virtual three-dimensional object with its adjacentobjects selected by the player 102. The tags 610 represent keywords thatmay be utilized to get the virtual three-dimensional object as a resultof using the search tab displayed on the UI of the augmented realityenabled gaming device 104. The attributes 612 represent who has theright to utilize the virtual three-dimensional object. For example, a“community” object can be used by any authorized player within thecommunity (e.g., a defined group) as determined through the loginprocess. However, a “private” object can only be used by a particularplayer or a pre-defined group of players. Further, the other information614 represents any extra information related to the virtualthree-dimensional object stored against the object identifier 602. Forexample, a player might be charged a fee for the use of certain objects.Another example of “other information” might be a rating of thedesirability of the object as input by players.

In an embodiment, the rendering rules 608 define how this object isrendered with the different types of virtual three-dimensional objectsthat could be placed in the six adjacent cuboids identified as “top”,“bottom”, “front”, “back”, “left” and “right” based on the orientationof the virtual three-dimensional object in the cuboid. For example, if astone wall is placed in a cuboid to the left of another cuboid with astone wall with the same orientation, then, the two stone wall unitswill be aligned and fused together and displayed as a continuous stonewall two units in length when viewed through the augmented realityenabled gaming device 104. The rendering rules also define the relativesize of the virtual three-dimensional object. Virtual three-dimensionalobjects are scaled in the rendering process based on the relative sizeof adjacent objects and the total volume of the field of play so thatthe resultant field of play would appear to be properly proportioned.The rendering rules can be defined manually by the creator of the objectbased on the visual requirement of the objects placed in adjacentcuboids. In an additional embodiment, the server system may alsodetermine, based on machine learning of human-defined rules, the optimumrules that can be used to scale and fuse the objects to create the fieldof play.

In one example, the virtual three-dimensional object may be a stonewall. The object identifier for the stone wall may be “2141”. An imageof the stone wall may be stored in the OL against the object identifier.The type of the object is structure since the stone wall is a structure.And the rendering rules may be top: 271, front: 365, back: 465, left:350, and right: 620, and bottom: 340. The tags may be a castle, stonewall, parapet, defense, etc. The attribute may be private to a definedgroup where only the players in that defined group can access thecorresponding object.

Referring now to FIG. 7, it represents a table 700 of structured datarelated to the episodes of games stored in the GR 216. The GR 216 isconfigured to store information regarding the episodes of games playedby the players including a plurality of data fields. The GR 216 may beutilized by players to continue a suspended game or check back acompleted game in the past. In an embodiment, information regarding theongoing games is also stored in the GR 216.

In an example embodiment, the table 700 may include a plurality ofinformation fields such as for example, a field of play ID (see, 702), agame identifier (see, 704), record (see, 706), a time stamp (see, 708),player ID and character (see, 710), a game state (see, 712), a log (see,714), notes (see, 716), and other information (see, 718). The field ofplay ID represents a name or a unique ID assigned to a field of playbuilt by a player such as the player 102. The players may assign the IDto each of the fields of play. The game identifier 704 represents theunique identifier assigned for an episode of a game being played, oralready played by the player 102. The record 706 refers to an option ifthe player had chosen to record the gameplay or not. Only yes or no maybe stored against the field record 706. Time stamp 708 represents thedate and time of the end time of a gameplay which has already beenplayed. Ongoing episodes of games may not be applicable for storing thetime stamps. Further, the player ID and character 710 refer to a uniqueID of the player who has participated or is participating in a gameplayalong with the chosen character of the player for a TRPG. No chosencharacter is required for TMG, so therefore, the character identifier isblank or noted as “N/A”. Game state 712 represents the state of thegameplay whether it is suspended, or completed, or ongoing. The log 714represents the latest log that was saved for the corresponding gameplay.It can be the last action for suspended and ongoing games and gameresults for a completed game. Notes 716 represent optional written notesentered by the lead player or admin through the UI. The notes could beany narration related to the game or the current episode of the gamethat the lead players would like to memorialize. Other information 718represents any management information relating to the game including,but not limited to, the computer storage location of the 3D computergraphics generated by the rendering of the FPDB, timing of live streambroadcasted, or scheduled, viewership analytics data, etc.

In an example, the field of play ID may be “TRPG-Castle ACDX” assignedby the player 102. The game identifier for the corresponding gameplaymay be “AX89”. The player 102 may have chosen to record the gameplay.The record field may be stored with “yes”. The time stamp may be in anYYYY-MM-DD format followed by an hh-mm-ss format. The player ID andcharacter may be “Player X+ char. 0718” representing the player X's IDand the character ID of the character chosen by the player. The gamestate may be “suspended” representing that the gameplay was aborted inthe middle of a game by the players. The log may be “last action” sincethe game was suspended.

Games can be categorized into various states as recorded in the GR. Agame could be suspended meaning that the current episode of the game hasbeen terminated and the players can jointly agree to restart the gamefrom where they left off in a future time by initiating a new episode ofthe game. An ongoing game is one that is being played at the currentmoment. In an example, a TRPG may be being played as noted in the fieldof play ID 702 and therefore, a chosen character is required for eachplayer whereas, for a TMG, a character is not required as physicalminiature figures are used to play the game. A completed game is onethat has been played to its logical conclusion in accordance with therules of the game.

In an additional embodiment, the game identifier 704 may be “unplayed”for a game whose field of play is not being used in any ongoing orsuspended game. A lead player can initiate a new game by selecting thefield of play using its unique identifier noted.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a flow diagram of a method 800 for rendering avirtual three-dimensional field of play for AR-enhanced gameplay, isshown in accordance with an example embodiment. The method 800 depictedin the flow diagram may be executed by, for example, a server systemsuch as the server system 106. Operations of the method 800, andcombinations of operation in the method 800, may be implemented by, forexample, hardware, firmware, a processor, circuitry, and/or a differentdevice associated with the execution of software that includes one ormore computer program instructions. The method 800 starts at operation802.

At 802, the method 800 includes, receiving, by a processing system suchas the server system 106, a three-dimensional perimeter along a physicalgameplay surface such as the physical tabletop 108, from an augmentedreality enabled gaming device 104. The three-dimensional perimeter mayinclude an origin and an outer extension of a field of play along threedimensions defined by the player 102.

At 804, the method 800 includes, determining, by the processing systemsuch as the server system 106, a Euclidean space, based at least, on thethree-dimensional perimeter. The Euclidean space may be the total spacethat the perimeter may be covering based on the origin and the outerextension defined by the player 102.

At 806, the method 800 includes, calculating, by the processing systemsuch as the server system 106, a total volume of the Euclidean space,based on the origin and the outer extension of the field of play alongthe three dimensions defined by the player 102.

At 808, the method 800 includes, generating, by the processing systemsuch as the server system 106, a virtual three-dimensional grid such asthe virtual three-dimensional grid 402 of FIG. 4A, by dividing the totalvolume of the Euclidean space into a number of cuboids. In an exampleembodiment, the constituent cuboids within the virtual three-dimensionalgrid 402 may be of equal volume.

At 810, the method 800 includes, facilitating, by the processing systemsuch as the server system 106, rendering of the virtualthree-dimensional grid such as the virtual three-dimensional grid 402.The virtual three-dimensional grid may be configured to be displayed onthe physical gameplay surface such as the physical tabletop 108 asviewed through the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104.

At 812, the method 800 includes, receiving, by the processing systemsuch as the server system 106, a selection of a plurality of virtualthree dimensional objects, from the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104. The virtual three dimensional objects may be displayed tothe player 102 on a user interface of the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104. The player 102 may drag and drop the desired virtualthree-dimensional objects and press an actionable button on the userinterface to send the selection to the server system 106.

At 814, the method 800 includes, fusing, by the processing system suchas the server system 106, the plurality of virtual three-dimensionalobjects using a pre-defined set of rules to obtain a holistic field ofplay such as the holistic field of play 410 of FIGS. 4A and 4B.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram 900 outlining the steps in generating a virtualthree-dimensional grid and populating the grid with virtualthree-dimensional objects to create a holistic field of play, in apreferred embodiment. To create a field of play, a specialized gamingdevice such as the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104,integrated with hand movement tracking, head movement tracking, andforward camera capabilities may be utilized by a player such as theplayer 102. A gaming device with said added capabilities may includesmart glasses or AR headsets. Operations and combinations of operationdepicted in the flow diagram 900, may be implemented by, for example,hardware, firmware, a processor, circuitry and/or a different deviceassociated with the execution of software that includes one or morecomputer program instructions. The operation starts at operation 902.

The process may start at 902. At 904, the player 102 may initiate theaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104 and log in to the serversystem 106. The server system 106 may be a computing device including aprocessing system, connected to the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice 104 via a data network.

At 906, the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 may be utilizedby the player 102 to download a client-side application required toperform the operations outlined in FIG. 9, from the server system 106and executed by the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. Theclient-side application may be a TRPG or a TMG.

At 908, viewing through the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104,the player 102 may mark the desired perimeter of the field of play alongthe length, breadth, and height of the physical tabletop along the x, y,and z-axis. Depending on the capability of the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104, one method of defining the length, width, and heightof the field of play is to use the hand movement tracker capability ofthe augmented reality enabled gaming device 104. The player 102 willpoint to the desired (i) origin, and (ii) outer extension of the fieldof play along the x-, y- and z-axis using hand gesture, or in case of anAR headset without hand tracking, clicking on the hand-held controllerand UI wherever appropriate. The data points are sent from the augmentedreality enabled gaming device 104 to the server system 106.

At 910, the components present in the processor 202 of the server system106 may calculate the volume of the field of play in Euclidean space asdefined by the origin and the outer extension of the field of play alongthe x-, y- and z-axis. The server system 106 may further divide thetotal volume of the field of play into a number of cuboids. In anexample embodiment, the number of cuboids may be divided such that allthe cuboids are of equal volumes. In another embodiment, the player 102may also choose a desired number of divisions along the x, y, and z-axisand the dividing of the total volume of the Euclidean space may alsoconsider the desired number of divisions. In the preferred embodiment,as viewed through the augmented reality enabled gaming device 104, thethree-dimensional space above the physical tabletop 108 is divided intoa stack of cuboids forming a virtual three-dimensional grid.

At 912, the player 102 may choose to populate the virtualthree-dimensional grid with a plurality of virtual three-dimensionalobjects to form a field of play. The player 102 may select a pluralityof virtual three-dimensional objects from a UI displayed based on asearching operation performed on the content of the OL 218. The virtualthree-dimensional objects selected to be included in the field of playcan be selected from a region in the UI of the augmented reality enabledgaming device 104 and dragged-and-dropped onto the virtualthree-dimensional grid at 914. The select-drag-drop process can beachieved through various means including, but not limited to, using anddetecting the hand gesture of virtually grabbing the selected image of avirtual object presented in the UI and then moving the image onto thedesired cuboid. The object can also be rotated to the correctorientation. The hand gesture is detected and recorded by the handmovement tracker 236 built into or external to the augmented realityenabled gaming device 104.

At 916, if the player 102 has completed building the field of play, theplayer 102 may save the field of play and proceed to press ‘render’button displayed on the UI. If the player 102 has not completedpopulating the virtual three-dimensional grid, the process may repeatfrom step 912. In an embodiment, the player 102 may save the field ofplay that he/she has built by populating the desired cuboids of thevirtual three-dimensional grid with virtual three-dimensional object, bypressing on a ‘save’ button on the UI. At 918, the server system 106 maystore the virtual three-dimensional object identifiers and theirorientation in desired cuboid numbers in the FPDB 222.

Further, the player may choose to press the render button displayed onthe UI, to receive a holistic field of play as viewed through theaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104, from the server system 106.At, 920, the server system 106 may graphically fuse and render thevirtual three-dimensional objects in accordance with a pre-defined setof rules so that all the virtual three-dimensional objects placed withinthe virtual three-dimensional grid will appear to fuse togetherlogically to display a holistic field of play as viewed through theaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104. The rendered graphical fileis then given a unique identifier and stored in the GR 216 at 922. Theoperation ends at 924.

FIG. 10 represents a flow diagram 1000 outlining the steps in playing atabletop role-playing game (TRPG) or tabletop miniature game (TMG), in apreferred embodiment. A tabletop game with AR-enhanced gameplayexperience can be played using a virtual field of play by playerslocated in one or many geographically dispersed locations. Operationsand combinations of operation depicted in the flow diagram 1000, may beimplemented by, for example, hardware, firmware, a processor, circuitryand/or a different device associated with the execution of software thatincludes one or more computer program instructions. The operation startsat operation 1002.

At 1004, one or more players such as the player 102 will initiate theirrespective augmented reality enabled gaming devices such as theaugmented reality enabled gaming device 104, as shown in FIG. 9. Theplayers may then log in to the server system 106. Players who alreadyhave an account at the server system 106 may be able to log in, whereasa new player may be provided an option to sign up to the server system106 to facilitate the AR-enhanced gameplay.

At 1006, a client-side software application such as the TRPG or TMG forthe augmented reality enabled gaming device 104 may be downloaded to theaugmented reality enabled gaming devices of the players, from the serversystem 106, if this is the first time the player is playing the game. Ifthe player already has the game downloaded on the augmented realityenabled gaming device, the player may be facilitated to directly startthe game.

In an example embodiment, one of the players may be designated as thelead player for the corresponding episode of the gameplay. At 1008, thelead player such as the player 102 may select a field of play using theunique identifier for the field of play. Further, if required as per therules of the game, for example in a TRPG, each player will select theircharacter from the UI displayed to them on their respective augmentedreality enabled gaming devices 104. In an example, the episode of thegameplay may be a new gameplay with a new field of play and characterset or a continuation of a previous episode of an unfinished gameplay.The lead player may select a previously played episode of the gameplayusing a unique identifier saved in the GR 216. Relating to acontinuation of a previously unfinished gameplay, the new episode willcommence from the last stored state or narrative of the previousepisode.

Further, at 1010, the lead player will also be able to choose whetherthe game will be played in a single location or multiple, geographicallydispersed locations, and/or whether the game will be live streamed. Livestreaming a gameplay enables an audience of non-participating persons toview the field of play and the proceeding of a live or pre-recorded gamein three-dimension or two-dimension using a gaming device or otherdevices.

At 1012, the game can be played in accordance with the rules ofclassical tabletop games with no change to the style of play but onlywith AR-enhanced player experience showing a lifelike field of play andcharacters across one or more geographical locations.

At 1014, the game will proceed until it is completed in accordance withthe rules of the game. If completed, at 1016 upon the completion of thegame, the gaming result will be recorded and stored in the GR 216.

If the game is not completed, at 1018 the lead player can eithercontinue playing the episode of gameplay or suspend the episode of thegameplay at any time.

If the player does not continue and suspends the gameplay, at 1020, theinformation related to the gameplay such as the state of gameplay andother information will be recorded in the GR 216. As indicated, asuspended game can be resumed with the same set of players at a latertime. The process ends at 1022.

FIG. 11 is a representation 1100 explaining how the field of playdatabase (FPDB) can be utilized to render the field of play, in apreferred embodiment. The representation 1100 illustrates the use of thefield of play database (FPDB 222) to store the composition informationof fields of play. In an embodiment, each field of play may be storedagainst a plurality of information 1102. The plurality of information1102 may include data fields such as a field of play identifier,creator, creation date, retired, usage privilege, and rendered filelocation. The field of play identifier represents the unique identifierassigned to the field of play built by the player. The name of thecreator identifies the person that creates this field of play using themethod as described previously. The creation date represents the datethat the field of play was created by the player. Retirement statusindicates whether the field of play has been retired or no longer inuse. The usage privilege represents who can use this field of play, beit (i) private (only the creator), (ii) community (anyone belonging to adefined community of players), or (iii) anyone. Further, the renderedfile location represents where the three-dimensional graphical renderingof the field of play can be found within the server system 106.

Further, the field of play database includes a table 1104 containingthree columns. The table 1104 may include information fields such as forexample, a cuboid location (see, 1106), an object identifier (see,1108), and an orientation (see, 1110). The cuboid location 1106represents the coordinate (a,b,c) which determines the location of oneof the plurality of cuboids within the virtual three-dimensional grid as“a”, “b” and “c” from the origin set by the players along the x-, y- andz-axis respectively. The object identifier 1106 represents the uniqueidentifier of the virtual three-dimensional object placed in thecorresponding cuboid identified in the cuboid location defined in 1106,by the player 102 using the process described in FIG. 5. The orientation1110 indicates which face of the cuboid is the front of the objectfacing.

In an example, a guard tower 1112 with object identifier “2142” may belocated in cuboid location (4,1,1) which is the fourth cuboid from theorigin along the x-axis, and first cuboid from the origin on the y- andz-axis. It is oriented to have its front wall parallel to face 5 of thecuboid as shown in the net diagram 1114 of the cuboid. In anotherexample, the object stone wall 1116 with object identifier “2141” isshown to be placed in a cuboid location (6,2,1), the object is orientedwith its front wall parallel to face 2 of the cuboid.

In an example embodiment, each cuboid in the virtual three-dimensionalgrid contains zero or one virtual three-dimensional object. Not allcuboids are listed in the FPDB 222. The cuboids that are not listed maycontain no virtual three-dimensional object and will be rendered asblank space in the rendered image. In TRPG that requires characters, thecharacters can only occupy blank spaces or cuboid with zero virtualthree-dimensional objects. The rule of the game will determine whether acharacter can traverse between two blank spaces separated by a spaceoccupied by another virtual three-dimensional object. For example, awarrior character will not be able to traverse across a stone castlewall but will be able to traverse a stream.

In the embodiment, if the field of play associated with a plurality ofinformation 1102 and the table 1104 shown in FIG. 11 is rendered, therendered image 1118 may show four units of stone castle wall 1116 alongthe x-axis with a guard tower 1112 between the third and fourth stonecastle wall unit 1116 from the origin. An additional stone castle wallunit 1116 is placed perpendicular to the fourth stone castle wall unit1116 as shown.

FIG. 12 is a representation 1200 showing an alternate way a tabletopgame is displayed or live streamed in character-view or macro-viewdisplay modes in a role-playing game in an embodiment. Therepresentation 1200 shows how a TRPG is viewed by a player such as theplayer 102 and/or an audience. There are two ways the player 102 canview the proceeding of a TRPG, one being, from the point of view of acharacter in the game. The second one being, from a macro view. In thiscase, the player 102 can be a remote participant, or someone physicallysituated at the physical gameplay surface where the field of play isbeing rendered. For the audience, they can (i) share the same view asthe player of their choice among a plurality of players; (ii) view fromthe perspective of a chosen character among all characters; or (iii)watch in a macro view of a chosen character. In all cases, the viewthrough the gaming or viewing device is rendered by a centralized server(e.g. the server system 106) and displayed by the gaming or viewingdevice.

In the case of viewing the game from the point of view of a character inthe game, take for example a virtual three-dimension grid 1202 of aparticular field of play with a marked origin and x-, y- and z-axis1204, the field of play has a line of stone walls with coordinates(1,1,1), (2,1,1), and (4,1,1) and a guard tower 1210 at coordinate(3,1,1) between the second and third segment of the stone walls. For thecharacter 1206 located at coordinate (3,2,1) looking toward the guardtower 1210, when live-streamed to an audience viewing using viewingdevice 1216, their field of view 1214 can be rendered by the serversystem 106 to show the same field of view 1208 as the character 1206. Asthe character 1206 moves their head from right to left, the audiencewill be able to see the segments of the rendered image 1212 includingstone walls at (1,1,1), (2,1,1) and (4,1,1), and the guard tower at(3,1,1) as rendered by the server system 106. In an alternateimplementation, the audience can pan their viewing device 1216 toinstruct the server system to provide a 360° view from the point of viewof the character.

A macro view 1218 allows the player 102 and/or an audience to view thecharacter 1220 situated within a relevant portion of the field of playfrom a birds-eye perspective. Only the portion of the field of playadjacent to the character 1220 is rendered with clarity. Structuralelements like the roof, ceiling or upper floors of a building, forexample, that obstruct the view of the character 1220 in a lower floorroom are not rendered so that the character can be seen by the playerand/or an audience. To be realistic, the support structure 1222 isdisplayed, but not the roof, ceiling, or upper floors of a building thatit supports. Furthermore, areas adjacent to the room that the character1220 is situated at that are beyond the logical field of view of thecharacter 1212 because of visual barriers 1224 are masked to avoidmetagaming. Metagaming refers to enabling the player 102 and/or anaudience to see what is hidden to their characters in the next room andtherefore impacting the thrill of the game. In an additional embodiment,an artificial intelligence programming technique can be used indeveloping the rendering function so as to determine what can or cannotbe logically seen in this macro view.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a network-based system 1300 linking playersplaying the game and potential audience viewing a live-streamed gameusing various means in preferred and alternate embodiments. Thenetwork-based system 1300 is shown to include elements of a gamingsystem built to play and view an AR-enhanced tabletop game. At the heartof the network-based system 1300 is server system 1302 which providescomputing resources and storage to the other components. The serversystem 1302 could be one or more physical servers or computers, or itcould be virtual computing resources located in the cloud. In anembodiment, the server system 1302 may be incorporated with the gamingdevice itself. The server system 1302 may include a plurality ofdatabases such as account & bookkeeping information repository thatstores key housekeeping data required to manage the function andresources of the server system, as well as the gaming and live streamingenvironments. For example, user profiles database is where login andauthentication data for access to the gaming and live streamingenvironments are stored and managed. An object library (OL) may also bestored in the server system 1302, where the data relating to the virtualthree-dimensional objects and characters are stored and managed.Further, a field of play database (FPDB) may be stored in the serversystem 1302, where data describing the composition of fields of play arestored and managed. A game repository (GR) may be stored, where datarelating to all games being played are stored and managed.

All the gaming and live streaming elements are connected via a datanetwork 1304 which could be a local network, wide-area network, orinternet. The data network allows all the elements to communicate witheach other. The participating players can play the game from one centrallocation 1307 or from geographically dispersed locations 1308. Theplayers can play the AR-enhanced tabletop games using a variety ofgaming devices that can satisfy the technical requirements of the gamesbeing played. To create a new field of play, AR headset, or smartglasses with hand gesture detection capability are preferred in order tosimplify the UI interaction.

Proceeding of games can be viewed by the players using the gamingdevice, and/or live streamed or replayed to an audience using a varietyof devices. The viewing devices may include gaming devices 1310,personal computers 1312, mobile devices 1314, and large screen videodisplays 1316 including televisions or jumbotrons found in a stadium ore-sport venue (the “Viewing Device”). Depending on the video capabilityof the Viewing Device, the viewer might be able to view the image intwo-dimensions or three-dimensions. For viewing using a personalcomputer 1312, it is possible for the viewer to move the pointing device(e.g., mouse) to capture a 360° view of the gaming environment. Asimilar 360° view can also be obtained by panning mobile device 1314.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure offer multiple advantagesand technical effects. For instance, the principal object of theembodiments herein is to provide a computer-implemented method thatdelivers enhanced augmented reality gameplay experience for existingtabletop games including, but not limited to, TRPG and TMG. Theembodiments herein allow multi-player tabletop games to be played by aplurality of players seated around a physical tabletop at a commonlocation, or a plurality of remote players situated in dispersedlocations, or as live stream program while preserving the traditionalgameplay rules and experience of tabletop games. The embodiments alsoprovide enhanced gameplay experience using existing physical tabletopgames and commercially available AR headsets as gaming devices todeliver an enhanced mixed reality experience. The mixed reality mayinclude both virtual and physical gameplay experience and generatecontent that can be live-streamed on e-sports or other channels.Further, in some embodiments, the AR headsets or other gaming devicesmay be used to display tabletop games-related entertainment, tutorial,and/or digital advertising content based on the identity, preference,demographics, or other characteristics of the players. In an additionalembodiment, the advertising content for a particular player may bedetermined using machine learning analysis techniques, wherein variousmachine learning modules may be trained based on the previouspreferences, demographics, and characteristics of the players.

It is to be understood that although various components are illustratedherein as separate entities, each illustrated component represents acollection of functionalities which can be implemented as software,hardware, firmware or any combination of these. Where a component isimplemented as software, it can be implemented as a standalone program,but can also be implemented in other ways, for example as part of alarger program, as a plurality of separate programs, as a kernelloadable module, as one or more device drivers or as one or morestatically or dynamically linked libraries.

As will be understood by those familiar with the art, the invention maybe embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit oressential characteristics thereof. Likewise, the particular naming anddivision of the portions, modules, agents, managers, components,functions, procedures, actions, layers, features, attributes,methodologies and other aspects are not mandatory or significant, andthe mechanisms that implement the invention or its features may havedifferent names, divisions and/or formats.

Furthermore, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in therelevant art, the portions, modules, agents, managers, components,functions, procedures, actions, layers, features, attributes,methodologies and other aspects of the invention can be implemented assoftware, hardware, firmware or any combination of the three.Accordingly, wherever a component of the present invention isimplemented as software, the component can be implemented as a script,as a standalone program, as part of a larger program, as a plurality ofseparate scripts and/or programs, as a statically or dynamically linkedlibrary, as a kernel loadable module, as a device driver, and/or inevery and any other way known now or in the future to those of skill inthe art of computer programming. Additionally, the present invention isin no way limited to implementation in any specific programminglanguage, or for any specific operating system or environment.

Furthermore, it will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe relevant art that where the present invention is implemented inwhole or in part in software, the software components thereof can bestored on computer-readable media as computer program products. Any formof computer-readable medium can be used in this context, such asmagnetic or optical storage media. Additionally, software portions ofthe present invention can be instantiated (for example as object code orexecutable images) within the memory of any programmable computingdevice.

As will be understood by those familiar with the art, the invention maybe embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit oressential characteristics thereof. Likewise, the particular naming anddivision of the portions, modules, agents, managers, components,functions, procedures, actions, layers, features, attributes,methodologies and other aspects are not mandatory or significant, andthe mechanisms that implement the invention or its features may havedifferent names, divisions and/or formats.

Although various exemplary embodiments of the invention are describedherein in a language specific to structural features and/ormethodological acts, the subject matter defined in the appended claimsis not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts describedabove. Rather, the specific features and acts described above aredisclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:receiving, by a processing system, a three-dimensional perimeter along aphysical gameplay surface, from an augmented reality enabled gamingdevice, wherein the three-dimensional perimeter comprises an origin andan outer extension of a field of play along three dimensions defined bya player; determining, by the processing system, a Euclidean space,based at least, on the three-dimensional perimeter; calculating, by theprocessing system, a total volume of the Euclidean space, based atleast, on the origin and the outer extension of the field of play alongthe three dimensions defined by the player; generating, by theprocessing system, a virtual three-dimensional grid, by dividing thetotal volume of the Euclidean space into a number of cuboids;facilitating, by the processing system, rendering of the virtualthree-dimensional grid, wherein the virtual three-dimensional grid isconfigured to be displayed on the physical gameplay surface as viewedthrough the augmented reality enabled gaming device; receiving, by theprocessing system, a selection of a plurality of virtual threedimensional objects, from the augmented reality enabled gaming device;and fusing, by the processing system, the plurality of virtualthree-dimensional objects using a pre-defined set of rules to obtain aholistic field of play.
 2. The computer-implemented method as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising: rendering, the holistic field of play, tothe augmented reality enabled gaming device, to make the holistic fieldof play available to be displayed on the physical gameplay surface. 3.The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising facilitating, by the processing system, the player to dragand drop the plurality of virtual three-dimensional objects on to thevirtual three-dimensional grid, using the augmented reality enabledgaming device.
 4. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1,further comprising: assigning, a unique identifier to the holistic fieldof play; and storing the holistic field of play against the uniqueidentifier in a game repository.
 5. The computer-implemented method asclaimed in claim 1, wherein a client-side application is downloaded ontothe augmented reality enabled gaming device, via the processing system.6. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 5, wherein theclient-side application is one of a tabletop role-playing game and atabletop miniature game.
 7. The computer-implemented method as claimedin claim 1, further comprising: downloading, by the augmented realityenabled gaming device, a client-side application, via the processingsystem; and providing, by the augmented reality enabled gaming device, auser interface to the player to select the origin and the outerextension of the field of play along the three dimensions.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the augmentedreality enabled gaming device further comprises performing: displaying,a plurality of virtual three-dimensional objects stored in an objectlibrary, to the user via another user interface; and facilitating, theuser to drag and drop the plurality of virtual three-dimensional objectsto be populated in the virtual three-dimensional grid, via another userinterface.
 9. The computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1,wherein the augmented reality enabled gaming device comprises a mixedreality viewing device and a hand movement tracker.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of thenumber of cuboids is selected and separated by the player to allocate avirtual three-dimensional object to the cuboid, using the augmentedreality enabled gaming device.
 11. The computer-implemented method asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising: live streaming, by theprocessing system, an episode of a game played on the field of play forviewing by on-site or remote spectators; and re-rendering, by theprocessing system, the episode of the game played on the field of playonto one of a gaming device, a personal computer, a mobile device, and avideo display.
 12. A processing system, comprising: a memory comprisingexecutable instructions; and a processor configured to execute theexecutable instructions to cause the processing system, at least inpart, to: receive a three-dimensional perimeter along a physicalgameplay surface, from an augmented reality enabled gaming device,wherein the three-dimensional perimeter comprises an origin and an outerextension of a field of play along three dimensions defined by a player;determine a Euclidean space, based at least, on the three-dimensionalperimeter; calculate a total volume of the Euclidean space, based atleast, on the origin and the outer extension of the field of play alongthe three dimensions defined by the player; divide the total volume ofthe Euclidean space into a number of cuboids; generate a virtualthree-dimensional grid, based at least, on the number of cuboids;facilitate, rendering of the virtual three-dimensional grid, wherein thevirtual three-dimensional grid is configured to be displayed on thephysical gameplay surface as viewed through the augmented realityenabled gaming device; receive a selection of a plurality of virtualthree dimensional objects, from the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice; and fuse the plurality of virtual three-dimensional objectsusing a pre-defined set of rules to obtain a holistic field of play. 13.The processing system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the processingsystem is further caused at least in part to: render the holistic fieldof play, to the augmented reality enabled gaming device, to make theholistic field of play available to be displayed on the physicalgameplay surface.
 14. The processing system as claimed in claim 12,wherein the processing system is further caused to facilitate the playerto drag and drop the plurality of virtual three-dimensional objects onto the virtual three-dimensional grid, using the augmented realityenabled gaming device.
 15. The processing system as claimed in claim 12,wherein the processing system is further caused at least in part to:assign a unique identifier to the holistic field of play; and store theholistic field of play against the unique identifier in a gamerepository.
 16. The processing system as claimed in claim 12, wherein aclient-side application is downloaded onto the augmented reality enabledgaming device, via the processing system.
 17. The processing system asclaimed in claim 12, wherein the processing system is further caused atleast in part to: facilitate analyzing player related data stored in thegaming repository and user profiles database; and determine digitalcontent to be displayed on the augmented reality enabled gaming device,based at least on the analyzing step.
 18. An augmented reality enabledgaming device, comprising: a plurality of sensors; a memory comprisingexecutable instructions; and a processor communicably coupled to acommunication interface, the processor configured to execute theexecutable instructions to cause the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice to at least: download a client-side application, via a processingsystem; provide a user interface to a player to select an origin and anouter extension of a field of play along three dimensions; display aplurality of virtual three-dimensional objects stored in an objectlibrary, to the user via another user interface; and provide a userinterface to the player to drag and drop the plurality of virtualthree-dimensional objects to be populated in a virtual three-dimensionalgrid, via another user interface; receive a three-dimensional perimeteralong a physical gameplay surface, from an augmented reality enabledgaming device, wherein the three-dimensional perimeter comprises anorigin and an outer extension of a field of play along three dimensionsdefined by the player; determine a Euclidean space, based at least, onthe three-dimensional perimeter; calculate a total volume of theEuclidean space, based at least, on the origin and the outer extensionof the field of play along the three dimensions defined by the player;divide the total volume of the Euclidean space into a number of cuboids;generate a virtual three-dimensional grid, based at least, on the numberof cuboids; facilitate, rendering of the virtual three-dimensional grid,wherein the virtual three-dimensional grid is configured to be displayedon the physical gameplay surface as viewed through the augmented realityenabled gaming device; receive a selection of a plurality of virtualthree dimensional objects, from the augmented reality enabled gamingdevice; and fuse the plurality of virtual three-dimensional objectsusing a pre-defined set of rules to obtain a holistic field of play. 19.The augmented reality enabled gaming device as claimed in claim 18,wherein the gaming device comprises one of an augmented or mixed realityviewing device equipped with hand movement tracker.
 20. The augmentedreality enabled gaming device as claimed in claim 18, wherein the gamingdevice is further caused to access an episode of a tabletop game playedon the field of play, based at least on a game identifier.